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Remote control of media content delivery to a digital media recorder

Remote control of media content delivery to a digital media recorder description/claims

The present invention relates to media content delivery, and in particular to allowing a user to use a computing terminal to select media content for delivery via the Internet to a digital media recorder from a media content server.

With the evolution of the Internet, the sharing and distribution of music, video, and other media content has become ubiquitous in modern society. Media content is being exchanged and streamed to various types of stationary and portable electronic devices to enable users to take advantage of virtually any type of content at any location. Given the extensive popularity of Apple® Computer's iPod® and other portable media players, a primary focus of the entertainment industry has been on delivering various types of media content to the personal computers and portable media players, and providing accessories for these portable media players. As the capabilities of the personal computers and portable media players evolve and broadband connections to the Internet become readily available, the focus on downloading and streaming relatively small music files transitions into downloading and streaming music videos, video clips, television programs, and movies in addition to music.

Although being able to download or stream a television program or movie to a personal computer or portable media player is often convenient, most consumers would rather view such programming on the larger video monitors or displays provided by their televisions or home theater systems. With the availability of high definition content, these consumers want higher quality video or larger screens than are typically available through personal computers and portable media players. These consumers also want a large selection of programming and want the programming available on their schedules.

The video-on-demand services provided by satellite and cable operators are readily available at the consumer's whim, but generally afford a relatively limited programming selection. The ever-increasing number of programming channels increases the amount of available programming, but being available when the programming is presented as well as determining when and where a particular program will be presented is often difficult.

Digital media recorders allow time-shifting, wherein select programs are recorded when broadcast and viewed at a later time. Although this provides greater selection than video-on-demand services, the selection provided by regular programming is still limited. Further, the standard interface provided by digital video recorders makes searching for a program to record relatively inefficient and difficult. As a result, some digital video recorders can be controlled by a computer to provide a more user-friendly interface when searching for programs to record; however, the selection remains limited.

As such, there is a need for a way to greatly increase the amount of media content available to consumers and their digital video recorders. There is a further need for a way to more efficiently search and select media content for delivery to consumers and their digital video recorders.

The present invention allows a user to select media content for delivery via the Internet to a digital media recorder from any number of media content servers, which may support an unlimited amount of media content. To afford such control, a computing terminal, which is separate from the digital media recorder, runs a browser application that allows the user to access the media content server or an associated media access server, browse available media content, and select media content for delivery to the digital media recorder. Once selected, the media content is delivered from the media content server to the digital media recorder, which will store the media content for subsequent playback. In one embodiment, the computing terminal accesses the media content server or the media access server through the digital media recorder. As such, information for the browsing and selection session is essentially passed through the digital media recorder. In another embodiment, the computing terminal directly interacts with the media access server, which will instruct the media content server to deliver the media content to the digital media recorder. In this embodiment, information for the browsing and selection session is not passed through the digital media recorder.

By employing a separate computing terminal to select media content for delivery to the digital media recorder, a more efficient, flexible, and feature rich browsing and selection process is provided. The present invention is particularly beneficial when the digital media recorder is a digital video recorder that supports cable, over-the-air, or satellite television services. As a digital video recorder, programs received via the various television services may be recorded along with the media content provided from digital media servers and played back to the user at any time. The programs as well as the media content may also be provided to the user in real time. In one embodiment, the media content includes music or video content associated with music or television programs; however, those skilled in the art will recognize that the media content may take other forms.

The present invention also affords service providers and advertisers an opportunity to deliver targeted advertising to users. Different advertising may be provided to different users or to users with different media content. Further, various advertising control options are made available to the service providers, advertisers, and users, as will be discussed in greater detail below.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures.

The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block representation of a communication environment according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B depict a communication flow diagram illustrating a first scenario according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B depict a communication flow diagram illustrating a second scenario according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block representation of a communication environment according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B depict a communication flow diagram illustrating a scenario according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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